Discovery in Darkness
by Phantom-writer3739
Summary: As Edward shows Bella around his cellar the power goes out. Problem? Bella doesn't like the dark. My submission for the exploration of the senses competition. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Title:**** Discovery in Darkness**

**Pen Name: Phantom-writer3739**

**Sense: T****ouch**

**Genre: Romance**

**Characters: Edward & Bella**

**Visit cdunbar or Helliex88's profile for contest details and how to enter.**

**AN: Has anyone ever seen that show 'Dating in the Dark'? It's fairly amusing. I contemplated having B&E up for an episode of that but as neither of them would be interested in having sex on TV I had to modify it a little bit.**

**Ok, quite a lot actually.**

_In a subterranean level of the Cullen's house. All the Cullens are out hunting except Edward and a still human but no longer virginal or unmarried Bella…_

BPOV:

I laughed at Edward as we made our way into the very strange room that served as a basement for his experiments. "I don't _care_ that your vampire nose is a thousand times stronger than mine. Obviously it smelled _that_ _bad_ because mine has completely packed up. You probably have some weird, vampy enhanced tolerance for things like that."

He rolled his eyes at me, a small smile quirking the corners of his lips. "Yes dear." He said condescendingly. I playfully tried to punch him in the stomach but he caught my hand before it could make contact, raising it to his lips. "Don't hurt yourself babe." He told me as he winked at me. His voice resonated weirdly as the door swung shut, distorted by the metal walls. He pulled me closer to him and I lamented the loss of my sense of smell. I could just imagine how delicious he'd smell; his own unique scent that drove me wild.

Just as his lips met mine the lights flickered and went out.

I stiffened instantly, fear racing through me, making my heart race and my breaths come quick and shallow. Instantly I reached for Edward, that action as much a reflex as everything else.

He said something but the strange distortion coupled with my thundering heartbeat stopped me from comprehending his words.

In my mind I was transported back to the day I'd almost drowned. Darkness had engulfed me, stolen Edward from me, had tried to pull me into its lonely depths…

I had lived in darkness in the days after Edward had left me.

I was pulled back to the present by Edward pulling me against his solid frame, cool hands rubbing against the back of my neck, the gentleness of his actions contrasting with the hardness of his digits.

He made as if to break away, trying to tell me something although all I caught of it was "break" and "door". I clung to him insensibly, knowing that if I stopped being able to feel him I'd go crazy. My memories of being alone and unwanted were looming up, trying to steal my sanity so they could drag me back into darkness. In this place, with no light to see him by, a nose that could not distinguish his scent and walls which distorted the sound of his beautiful voice so I could not recognize it, they had every possibility of succeeding.

My sense of touch was my one anchor to Edward. If I lost that then I lost _him_.

He seemed to realise some of what I was going through, or perhaps he merely saw that I would become hysterical if he moved away from me. Whatever the reason, he didn't try to leave me anymore, choosing instead to run his hands through my hair and over my face.

My breathing started to calm as I held on tight to him, reaching up so that my fingers could stroke his silky soft hair. No one had hair like Edward, not even the rest of the Cullens. Despite its length it never tangled and it had a different texture to Alice, Esme and Rosalie's hair. Their hair was finer than his, thinner and smoother, drifting through my hands like insubstantial mist. Edward's hair was far thicker and though it wasn't coarse it felt more substantial, more comforting.

It was like soft, clean, cat fur as opposed to human hair.

My fingers stroked across his face, reading him as if he were a book written in Braille. His face was a study on perfection; his features chiseled, hard lines but sanded and polished until the edges were silky-smooth; his eyebrows perfect arches with not a hair out of place, curves of hair that I'd never touched before, a different texture to his hair, smoother, thicker and more slippery; his eyelashes tickled my fingers, he fluttered them when I passed my fingers over them, the sudden, unexpected sensation shocked me into laughter, something I wouldn't have thought myself capable of right that moment.

I moved my hand lower, totally caught up in my exploration.

My fingers caressed his silken lip and he sighed in pleasure, the soft cool air caressing my fingertips. I carefully pressed them against his mouth, making my intentions known, and he obliged me, drawing his lips away from his teeth.

I ran my fingers carefully along his gums, the venom was much thicker than saliva and it coated the undulating flesh, making it slipperier. My fingers rubbed the little flap of skin that connected his lip to gum. Both top and bottom.

Carefully, very, _very_ carefully, so as not to slip and cut myself on his razor sharp teeth, I moved the pad of my thumb over his teeth.

They were as smooth as ice and just as warm.

I didn't notice how close I was drifting to the edges until his cool tongue wrapped around my thumb and pulled it deeper into his mouth while his lips came down to sheathe his teeth. He sucked on it a moment, sending a thrill down my spine and started a clenching in my lower belly. The sucking pulled extra blood to the edges of my thumb, making it tingle and become more sensitive. I ran it over his tongue, reveling in the texture. The roughness of it was in direct contrast to the smoothness of the rest of his body.

I withdrew my hand -wiping away any traces of venom- and moved it to his throat. He swallowed and I delighted in the play of muscles beneath his skin, the gentle swelling as his Adam's apple moved up and down.

My hands travelled down, rubbed over the fabric of his shirt. It was coarse compared to his skin but I could tell from the texture that it was a silk-cotton blend. The buttons were slippery smooth and there were exactly twenty three of them.

I undid every single one.

They slid smoothly through the buttonholes, a swift glide that was totally unlike my normal fumbling. I was more confident in the dark.

Strange. I would have thought that my fear would have made my hands shaky and unsure. Perhaps it was because I was working with only one of my senses and didn't have to deal with all the unnecessary input?

Whatever the cause, the result was the same. Edward's shirt was soon unbuttoned and gaping open. I ran my hands over the contours of his smooth chest as it slowly rose and fell with his unnecessary breaths. I stroked over his nipples, wondering at the changing textures, from smooth and flat to ridged and almost rough -and all because of _my_ touch. The tips were rounded domes, smooth and unblemished. I felt his breath hitch as I ran my fingers over them before stopping all together when I leaned down to lick them.

I'd once put a bag of candy in the fridge when I was a kid because the chocolate had started to melt. I'd come back later and found a chilled lollipop at the bottom of the bag. His nubs had the same feel to them only on a much smaller scale.

While my tongue made its way across his pectorals my hands were exploring the hills and valleys of his abs. I'd dropped to my knees for comfort and the position sent a thrill through me.

Had the women of ancient Greece worshipped at the statue of Adonis like this? Had that statue stirred to life to excite in them the same passions I was feeling now?

My questing fingertips found the magic pathway. But rather than yellow brick it was made of wiry hair that I knew from experience was a few shades darker than the bronze of his hair.

Another button undone. This one larger, rough with inscriptions and illustrations, metallic and harder to undo, the heavy denim surrounding it more reluctant to give way.

I could feel his muscles tensing in anticipation, jumping and flexing below the hand I kept on his stomach to steady myself.

I slowly lowered the heavy zip, feeling the little jolts as it came apart tooth by tooth. The little tab pressed into the pad of my fingers, swiftly absorbing my body heat, soon reaching my body temperature.

When I could pull the tab down no further I reached my hands up to the very beginning of his happy trail and slowly, almost languorously, I ran my fingers down it. I was delighted to discover that there wasn't any further obstruction to my path. I proceeded joyously to the citadel of my desire. It was the object which had the ultimate power over my satisfaction and every time I thought of it I burned with desire. Hence the name.

I found it, crowned with curls and rapidly hardening beneath my loving touch as I freed him from his confines. He was my Adonis and I was his faithful handmaiden, his priestess, here to serve and worship in any way I could.

I marveled at the texture. Although no part of his body was soft –with the obvious exception of his hair- his skin of his length was the softest part of him. It was also the warmest and silkiest. However, when erect it was as if all that silkiness covered a steel rod. A beloved lance wrapped in satin.

Reverently I lowered my lips to the tip and stroked his slit with my tongue, savoring the oily, liquid bead.

Wrapping my lips around him I sucked lightly, rubbing my tongue over the velvetiness of the tip and flirting with the ridge that separated it from the satin of the rest of the shaft. My hands caressed the parts that I could not reach –at least, not in my current position- and I lightly scraped my nails along him.

Almost instantly I was pressed up the wall, my hands pinned against the roughly hewn stone while my body was pinned by Edward's solid frame as he pressed his lips wildly against my own.

There were, I thought dazedly, decided advantages to being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

His free hand went up my skirt, sparking electricity as it went. I could feel his growls reverberating through his chest and realized belatedly that he must have undone my blouse. They rumbled through him and into me, shaking my ribs and making my heart race before travelling south to the same destination as his hand had just reached.

Heat flared through me, making his already cool digits feel icy. Rather than quenching the flames his cold fingers made it worse, even when he tore my panties off, allowing the chilled air to flow around my blazing heat.

As he tested my readiness for him I was lost in a blaze of sensation.

Then when he pushed into me I was certain I was in heaven.

His ice met my fire and both were consumed.

His thrusts were straight in and out, the angles differed but once he'd chosen his course he remained true to it and never wavered.

I ground into him, gyrating, first one way then another, going on instinct, on what felt best.

His movements had both rhyme and reason.

Mine were chaotic and pattern-less.

His passion was controlled for fear of hurting me.

Mine was unrestrained and I held nothing back. In my state I could never hurt him.

His was a dominant figure, supporting me, deciding how fast we went, and controlling my pleasure.

I could do nothing but arch against him and offer him all that was me.

He was hard where I was soft.

He was my guiding light in the dark.

He was my comfort, my protector, the love of my life.

I threw my head back, dimly realizing that Edward's hand stopped me cracking my head on the wall. The lightning that had begun as an electric current in my arousal had spread to my blood and was setting my body on fire.

I screamed in ecstasy, the sound violently vibrating my vocal cords and shaking me to the core.

My scream had been instinctual, a release of all the tension accumulating in my body, like a kettle's whistle. I couldn't know what it was that I'd screamed. I couldn't even hear it what with the sound distortion.

But instinctively I _did_ know. I knew that I'd called to him, called his name. Because he was all consuming. Because his was the only name etched into my deepest heart.

I shattered in the darkness, harsh breaths rasping against my sore throat, held together by two newly warmed hands and fiery lips.

As I lay limp in his arms I felt him shudder and convulse before his warm seed filled me. Just as he rested his cool brow against my hot, sweaty one the lights flickered and came back as the power restored itself.

He swung me into his arms before going over the keypad and typing in the password to open the door.

"Come on precious," he murmured into my ear as he raced up the stairs. "Let's get cleaned up and then you can tell me all about this strange aversion of yours to darkness…"

**AN: *Looks up* yeah, I hope you didn't laugh too hard. I got a little fanciful in parts of this. Try to guess which ones cracked me up when I was writing this…**

**Obviously I don't have a summary to bribe you with so you'll review. However I am hoping ****you'll review anyway. Even if it's just =) or =(**

**If you ask I'll answer. If you criticize I will thank you. If you review I will thank you. If you want a chocolate covered Edward I will send you one.**

**Desperate? Moi?**


	2. Voting

Feel free to ignore everything except the link at the bottom. I just got off the plane and writing while sick and tired and under the influence of cold medicine is not the most felicious of circumstances.

(YES, I know I got it wrong. But if you know I got it wrong then you know what I meant.)

Oh what fickle little reviewers you are.

I promise you a rushed, msn style summary and you review in droves. I promise you a chocolate covered Edward and...

Yeah, not so much.

Of course, it could be that my writing has degenerated. If that is the case please, PLEASE tell me what you didn't like or what you liked better in my other works -or even in other people's work! I'm not fussy.

Anyway, for those of you who reviewed: THANK YOU! You make my heart sing.

For those of you who favourited me without reviewing... I still love you. I just love my reviewers better.

And for those of you who read and enjoyed: I am glad that you liked it. I just wish I could be certain that there aren't legions of disaffected people out there shaking their heads in disgust.

Of course, if you want to make it up to me you could always clicky on this here linky (or rather, copy and paste it into your browser) and then go vote for me...

*Bats eyelids coyly*

Pwease?

http://www [DOT] fanfiction [DOT] net/u/1779141/#


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